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United States Patent |
6,173,485
|
Shiraishi
,   et al.
|
January 16, 2001
|
Method for manufacturing magnetic head apparatus with slider and suspension
Abstract
A method for manufacturing a magnetic head apparatus includes a step of
forming a plurality of flexure pieces coupled with each other and kept in
substantially flat, each of the flexure pieces being provided with
conductive connection pattern, a step of mounting sliders with magnetic
head elements on the respective flexure pieces, or mounting head IC chips
on the respective flexure pieces and after that mounting sliders with
magnetic head elements on the respective flexure pieces, and a step of
separating the flexure pieces with the sliders into individual pieces.
Inventors:
|
Shiraishi; Masashi (Nagano, JP);
Sakai; Masanori (Nagano, JP);
Umehara; Tsuyoshi (Nagano, JP);
Morita; Haruyuki (Nagano, JP);
Takano; Ken-ichi (Nagano, JP)
|
Assignee:
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TDK Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
|
Appl. No.:
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216851 |
Filed:
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December 21, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
29/603.06; 29/603.04 |
Intern'l Class: |
G11B 005/42 |
Field of Search: |
29/603.03,603.04,603.05,603.06
360/103,104,108
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
3563443 | Feb., 1971 | Pedrotti et al. | 228/1.
|
4799119 | Jan., 1989 | Rossi et al. | 360/123.
|
5687479 | Nov., 1997 | Bennin et al. | 29/885.
|
5859749 | Jan., 1999 | Zarouri et al. | 360/104.
|
5870258 | Feb., 1999 | Khan et al. | 360/104.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
53-69623 | Jun., 1978 | JP.
| |
54-94312 | Jul., 1979 | JP.
| |
55-150130 | Nov., 1980 | JP.
| |
3-108120 | May., 1991 | JP.
| |
3-134875 | May., 1991 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Hall; Carl E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for manufacturing a magnetic head suspension assembly
comprising the steps of:
forming a plurality of flexure pieces, each having a tongue portion,
coupled with each other and lying flat over their entire combined surfaces
exterior to the tongue portions, each of said flexure pieces being made of
a metal plate and provided with a conductive connection pattern formed on
the metal plate;
mounting sliders with magnetic head elements on the tongue portions of the
respective flat flexure pieces;
fixing said flexure pieces with the mounted sliders to load beams; and
separating said flexure pieces with the mounted sliders into individual
pieces,
said fixing step being executed before or after said separating step.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises
mounting head IC chips on the respective flexure pieces before said slider
mounting step is executed.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said head IC chip mounting
step includes mounting the head IC chips on the respective flexure pieces
by flip chip bonding process.
4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said method further comprises
bending the tongue portions of the respective flexure pieces so as to
adjust a static attitude of the sliders to be attached, said tongue
portion bending step being executed before said head IC chips and said
sliders are mounted.
5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said method further comprises
bending the tongue portions of the respective flexure pieces so as to
adjust a static attitude of the sliders to be attached, said tongue
portion bending step being executed after said head IC chips and said
sliders are mounted but before said coupled flexure pieces are separated
into individual pieces.
6. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said method further comprises
bending the tongue portions of the respective flexure pieces so as to
adjust a static attitude of the sliders to be attached, said tongue
portion bending step being executed after said coupled flexure pieces are
separated into individual pieces.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises
fixing a load beam to each of the separated flexure pieces.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said forming step includes
forming the plurality of flexure pieces coupled with each other from a
flat sheet material.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said forming step includes
forming the plurality of flexure pieces coupled with each other from a
rolled hoop material.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting step includes
mounting sliders with magnetoresistive type read out magnetic head
elements on the respective flexure pieces.
11. A method for manufacturing a magnetic head suspension assembly
comprising the steps of:
forming a plurality of flexure pieces, each having a tongue portion,
coupled with each other and lying flat over their entire combined surfaces
exterior to the tongue portions, each of said flexure pieces being made of
a metal plate and provided with a conductive connection pattern formed on
the metal plate;
mounting sliders with magnetic head elements on the tongue portions of the
respective flat flexure pieces;
bending said flexure pieces with the mounted sliders; and
separating said flexure pieces with the mounted sliders into individual
pieces,
said bending step being executed before or after said separating step.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said method further
comprises mounting head IC chips on the respective flexure pieces before
said slider mounting step is executed.
13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said head IC chip mounting
step includes mounting the head IC chips on the respective flexure pieces
by flip chip bonding process.
14. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said method further
comprises bending the tongue potions of the respective flexure pieces so
as to adjust a static attitude of the sliders to be attached, said tongue
portion bending step being executed before said head IC chips and said
sliders are mounted.
15. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said method further
comprises bending the tongue portions of the respective flexure pieces so
as to adjust a static attitude of the sliders to be attached, said tongue
portion bending step being executed after said head IC chips and said
sliders are mounted but before said coupled flexure pieces are separated
into individual pieces.
16. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said method further
comprises bending the tongue portions of the respective flexure pieces so
as to adjust a static attitude of the sliders to be attached, said tongue
portion bending step being executed after said coupled flexure pieces are
separated into individual pieces.
17. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said method further
comprises bending each of the flexure pieces, said flexure bending step
being executed after said head IC chips and said sliders are mounted but
before said coupled flexure pieces are separated into individual pieces.
18. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said method further
comprises bending each of the flexure pieces, said flexure bending step
being executed after said coupled flexure pieces are separated into
individual pieces.
19. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said forming step includes
forming the plurality of flexure pieces coupled with each other from a
flat sheet material.
20. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said forming step includes
forming the plurality of flexure pieces coupled with each other from a
rolled hoop material.
21. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said mounting step includes
mounting sliders with magnetoresistive type read out magnetic head
elements on the respective flexure pieces.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a magnetic head
apparatus, which includes a slider with at least one thin-film magnetic
head element, a resilient suspension for supporting the slider.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In such magnetic head apparatus, at least one thin-film magnetic head
element for writing magnetic information into and/or reading magnetic
information from a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic disk is in
general formed on a slider flying in operation above the magnetic
recording medium. The slider is supported by the suspension made of a
resilient thin metal plate.
A head IC chip used for amplifying writing current to the magnetic head
element, for amplifying reading current from the head element and for
controlling the writing and reading operations of the head element may be
also mounted on the suspension. Japanese patent unexamined publications
nos. 53(1978)-69623, 55(1980)-150130 and 3(1991)-108120 disclose magnetic
head apparatuses with the head IC chips mounted on the suspensions.
In fabricating these conventional magnetic head apparatuses, the sliders
and the head IC chips are mounted on the respective suspensions after bend
portions called as "gram-loads" and side rail bend portions for
reinforcement are formed in the suspensions. For example, Japanese patent
unexamined publications nos. 54(1979)-94312 and 3(1991)-134875 disclose
manufacturing processes for attaching sliders onto respective completed
suspensions which are coupled to each other and thereafter for separating
the coupled suspensions into the individual pieces.
As aforementioned, since the completed suspension according to the
conventional art has a complicated three dimensional shape, fixing of the
suspension itself to an assembling tool or a jig used for mounting the
slider and the head IC chip becomes very difficult. Thus, precise
alignment of the suspension with the slider and the head IC chip cannot be
expected causing that assembling of the slider and the head IC chip with
the suspension cannot be automated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for
manufacturing a magnetic head apparatus, whereby extremely accurate
assembling of a slider and/or a head IC chip with a suspension can be
expected.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for
manufacturing a magnetic head apparatus, whereby assembling of the slider
and the head IC chip with the suspension can be easily automated.
According to the present invention, a method for manufacturing a magnetic
head apparatus includes a step of forming a plurality of flexure pieces
coupled with each other and kept in substantially flat, each of the
flexure pieces being provided with conductive connection pattern, a step
of mounting sliders with magnetic head elements on the respective flexure
pieces, or mounting head IC chips on the respective flexure pieces and
after that mounting sliders with magnetic head elements on the respective
flexure pieces, and a step of separating the flexure pieces with the
sliders or with both the sliders and the head IC chips into individual
pieces.
Since the head IC chips and the sliders are mounted on the flexure pieces
coupled with each other and kept in substantially flat, the alignment and
mounting of the head IC chips and the sliders to the respective flexure
pieces can be accurately and easily executed, and thus extremely accurate
assembling of the head-suspension assemblies can be expected. This
accurate assembling will greatly improve characteristics of the magnetic
head apparatus. Furthermore, assembling of the sliders and the head IC
chips with the suspensions can be easily automated. Thus, the
manufacturing costs of the fabricated magnetic head apparatus can be
reduced without sacrificing quality.
In case of fabricating a magnetic head apparatus with a three-piece
structure suspension formed from discrete components of a flexure piece
and a load beam, the load beam is fixed to the flexure piece after the
slider is mounted on the flexure piece. Thus, the center of the slider can
be extremely easily aligned with a dimple, which will be normally formed
on the load beam.
It is preferred that the head IC chips are mounted on the respective
flexure pieces by flip chip bonding process.
It is also preferred that each of the flexure pieces has a tongue portion
for fixing the slider, and that the tang portions of the respective
flexure pieces are bent so as to adjust position angles of the sliders to
be attached. This tongue portion bending step may be executed before the
head IC chips and the sliders are mounted, after the head IC chips and the
sliders are mounted but before the coupled flexure pieces are separated
into individual pieces, or after the coupled flexure pieces are separated
into individual pieces.
In case of fabricating a magnetic head apparatus with a two-pieces
structure suspension formed from integral flexure piece and load beam,
bending process of the flexure piece integral with the load beam is
executed after the head IC chips and the sliders are mounted but before
the coupled flexure pieces are separated into individual pieces, or after
the coupled flexure pieces are separated into individual pieces.
It is also preferred that the plurality of flexure pieces coupled with each
other are formed from a flat sheet material or from a rolled hoop
material.
It is preferred that the sliders are provided with magnetoresistive (MR)
type read out magnetic head elements on the respective flexure pieces.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent
from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the
invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1a to 1c show plane views illustrating parts of processes of a
preferred embodiment of a method for manufacturing a magnetic head
apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged plane view of a flexure piece under the process of
FIG. 1a; and
FIG. 3 shows a plane view of the magnetic head apparatus with a load beam
and the flexure fixed to the load beam in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1a
to 1c.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1a to 1c illustrate parts of fabricating processes of the preferred
embodiment of the manufacturing method of the magnetic head apparatus
according to the present invention. This embodiment relates to the
magnetic head apparatus with a three-piece structure suspension formed
from discrete components of a flexure, a load beam and a base plate.
First, on a flat thin metal plate or a flat metal sheet, a conductive layer
with a thin-film conductive pattern that constitutes lead lines for each
suspension is formed. This thin-film conductive pattern can be formed by a
well-known method similar to the patterning method of forming printed
circuits on a thin metal plate. Namely, the conductive pattern is formed
by sequentially depositing a first insulation material layer made of a
resin such as polyimide with a thickness of about 5 .mu.m, a patterned Cu
layer (conductive layer) with a thickness of about 4 .mu.m, and a second
insulation material layer made of a resin such as polyimide with a
thickness of about 5 .mu.m on the thin metal plate in this order. The thin
metal plate is made of in this embodiment a stainless steel plate (for
example SUS304TA) with a thickness of about 25 .mu.m.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1a, the thin metal plate with thus formed conductive
layer is partially cut by for example an etching process to form a flexure
blank 11 on which a plurality of flexure pieces 10 partially coupled with
each other are arranged. Each of the flexure pieces 10 does not have bend
portions at this stage, and therefore the flexure blank 11 is kept in
substantially flat.
FIG. 2 illustrates an enlarged one of the flexure pieces 10 at this state.
In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes the conductive layer with the
thin-film conductive pattern that constitutes the lead lines running along
the longitudinal direction of the flexure piece 10. One end of the
conductive layer 12 is connected to connection terminals 13 which will be
connected to external circuits, and the other end of the conductive layer
12 is connected to connection terminals 14 which will be connected to
terminals of a slider. On a middle portion of the conductive layer 12,
connection pads 15 for a head IC chip are formed. Within the regions of
the connection terminals 13 and 14 and also the connection pads 15, a Ni
layer and an Au layer are sequentially deposited on the Cu layer and there
is no second insulation material layer.
In FIG. 2, furthermore, reference numeral 16 denotes a tongue portion of
the flexure piece 10 for carrying the slider. According to this
embodiment, the tongue portion 16 is bent, at this stage namely before
mounting the head IC chip and the slider, to adequately adjust a position
angle of the slider that will be attached thereto.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1b, the head IC chips 17 are mounted on and
connected to the connection pads 15 on the respective flexure pieces 10 of
the flexure blank 11. Each of the head IC chips 17 in this embodiment is
formed by a bear chip and thus mounted on the pads 15 by flip chip
bonding.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1c, the sliders 18 with magnetic head elements
such as MR read out elements are mounted on the tang portions 16 of the
respective flexure pieces 10 of the flexure blank 11.
As mentioned above, according to this embodiment, the head IC chips 17 and
the sliders 18 are mounted on the substantially flat flexure blank 11.
Therefore, the alignment and mounting of the head IC chips and the sliders
to the respective flexure pieces can be accurately and easily executed,
and thus extremely accurate assembling of the head-suspension assemblies
can be expected. Furthermore, assembling of the sliders and the head IC
chips with the suspensions can be easily automated. Thus, the
manufacturing costs of the fabricated magnetic head apparatus can be
reduced without sacrificing quality.
Thereafter, the coupled flexure pieces 10 on which the head IC chips 17 and
the sliders 18 are mounted are separated into individual pieces. Then, as
shown in FIG. 3, a load beam 19 at which a bend portion of "gram-load" 20
and side rail bend portions for reinforcement 21 and 22 are preliminarily
formed is fixed on the bottom surface of the flexure piece 10. The flexure
piece 10 and the load beam 19 constitute the fundamental portion of the
suspension. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 23 denotes a base plate attached
to the end portion of the load beam 19.
The load beam 19 is made of in this embodiment a stainless steel plate with
a thickness of about 70-75 .mu.m and supports the flexure piece 10 along
its whole length. This load beam 19 has a shape with a width that narrows
with approaching to its top end. Fixing of the flexure piece 10 with the
load beam 19 is achieved by means of a plurality of welded spots.
Since the flexure piece 10 is fixed to the load beam 19 after the slider 18
is mounted on the flexure piece 10, the center of the slider 18 can be
extremely easily aligned with a dimple which will be normally formed on
the load beam 19.
In a modification of the present invention, the bending work of the tongue
portions 16 of the respective flexure pieces to adjust position angles of
the sliders to be attached may be executed after the head IC chips and the
sliders are mounted but before the flexure pieces are separated. In a
further modification of the present invention, the bending work of the
tongue portions 16 of the respective flexure pieces may be executed after
the flexure pieces are separated.
In the aforementioned embodiments, each suspension has the three-piece
structure in which the flexure, the load beam and the base plate are
individually formed. In case of a two-pieces structure suspension in which
the flexure and the load beam are integral from the beginning, bending
works of the flexure pieces and the load beam, namely forming of bend
portion of "gram-load" and side rail bend portions for reinforcement will
be executed after the head IC chips and the sliders are mounted but before
the flexure pieces (load beams) are separated, or executed after the
flexure pieces (load beams) are separated.
Although the flexure blank 11 is made from a flat thin metal plate in the
aforementioned embodiments, such the flexure blank can be made in another
embodiment by roll to roll process using a rolled hoop material as TAB
(Tape Automated Bonding) process.
Many widely different embodiments of the present invention may be
constructed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not
limited to the specific embodiments described in the specification, except
as defined in the appended claims.
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